Emerging media from the borderlands of Jewish identity

‘Gift For Stalin’ and ‘Mama, L’chaim’

Mama L’chaim is a documentary of the bond between a mother and her son. Chaim, the son, is a man who has devoted himself entirely to the caretaking of his mother, giving up all the luxuries of a single life. While this is a unique story, the length of the film does it no justice. While watching it, I felt as though I was watching a preview for a longer, more in depth movie. It does, however, provide a good entrance into ‘Gift For Stalin,’ as they both pertain to bonding and human connection.

‘Gift to Stalin’, a Kazakhstanian film, is many things. It is an epic story of hope and joy, a somber tale of loss, and a tragic account of love. Though its many aspects tug at ones emotions, I emerged from the film feeling very satisfied, and peaceful. While the ending is certainly not happy, the film has a definite sense of completion, and however unfortunate the end is, I felt as though it was unavoidable, and that the events played out as they should have.

The films tone is gloomy, and its color palette mostly grey, but through this joy and happiness still manage to shine. The minimal use of color makes the occasions on which it is used very powerful. The films imagery provides a similar effect. The shots of the massive Kazakhstan steppes succeed at making the viewer feels small and lonely. To contrast this, are several shots of lively movement, and energy. The most remarkable of these is a shot at the beginning of a dancing toy. In the midst of death and sorrow, this image helps to wake the main character from his despair, and had a similar effect on me. These shots, like the use of color, are sparse, but very well executed and powerful. The music as well, is rarely used, but immediately grabs your attention because of its infrequency. The attention it recieved from me, however, was not always good. I felt that it was at times comical, and did not help the tone of the film.

This film is very powerful, and it is its simplicity and lack of extravagance that makes it so. The film uses music, color, and movement sparsely to create an elegant experience. I highly recommend this film to anyone willing to experience beauty.

HALF-REMEMBERED STORIES

In July 2010, we will be rolling out a multi-media exhibition about lost people, lost places, and the quest to reclaim lost memory. In preparation for this exhibit, we've invited 16 young Jews, ages 15 to 25, to blog.